Video: McCain sneers at Rand Paul’s filibuster on the Senate floor

posted at 2:01 pm on March 7, 2013 by Allahpundit

Erika already touched on this but watch the vid too to see one of the more memorably tone-deaf performances in modern political history. Whatever your feelings about Paul’s position on drones, there’s no denying the truth of what Philip Klein says here:

A lot of the outpouring of conservative support for Paul’s filibuster on Obama’s drone policy went beyond the libertarian and anti-interventionist blocs of the movement who were also deeply troubled by Bush era counter-terrorism policies. Even those conservatives who may not agree with all of Paul’s views on presidential war powers were supportive if for no other reason than they relished seeing a conservative win a messaging war with Obama. It was impossible to dismiss this as just a right-wing Tea Party attack, because a lot of liberals agree with the substance of Paul’s criticism. This filibuster had to get under Obama’s skin. As much as anything else, he was elected on a promise to turn the page on the Bush era and conduct the war against terrorism with greater concern for civil liberties. Watching Paul’s filibuster last night, I couldn’t help but think that this is how Obama imagines himself – a principled crusader for justice. When Bush and Cheney were running the show, whatever could be said about them, at least they were consistent in supporting broad presidential powers in the realm of national security. But it’s hard to look back at the pre-2009 Obama and see him as anything other than an arrogant hypocrite now — somebody who thinks a muscular executive branch is okay so long as he’s running it.

Paul’s performance yesterday was, I think, the biggest rout Obama’s suffered since the 2010 midterms. The sense we were left with after November was that, as a matter of pure politics, he and the Democrats are running rings around the GOP. They’re shrewder about their messaging, they’re vastly, vastly better in using technology to appeal to voters, and of course they can count on the media to help them in a pinch when needed. They know what they’re doing whereas the GOP seems chronically hapless. Yesterday felt like watching Wooden-era UCLA getting run off the court by an unranked team. If Obama caved to Paul’s demand that he formally repudiate drone strikes on Americans inside the U.S., he’d lose. If he stayed conspicuously silent while Paul begged him, hour after hour, to simply be the guy he pretended to be in 2008, he’d lose. Meanwhile, the spectacle of seeing Obama humiliated on a big political stage in the name of civil liberties managed to bring both libertarians and mainstream conservatives into alignment, however temporarily, behind the Paulian view of the war on terror. And the left, which is usually frantic to come to O’s defense, had to sit mostly silent after being reminded that they’re supposed to be critical of executive overreach on terrorism. It was a shockingly deft play by a guy whose patrilineage did not suggest an ability to rally support from mainstream Republicans. And while I don’t share Mollie Hemingway’s receding cynicism, I understand why she feels that way. No one, including me, doubts that Paul spoke from the heart. As Noah Rothman puts it, he chipped away at the Democrats’ “monopoly on romance,” which may mean something to young voters.

So now here comes McCain, with the unranked team and its fans celebrating at halfcourt after the game, to tell them that they played terribly and deserved to lose. He’s the antithesis of Paul in every relevant way: Much older, part of the Senate establishment for several decades, extremely pro-interventionist, way too eager to compromise with Democrats on constitutional matters (campaign finance reform), and not a little bit personally nasty in quoting the Journal’s line about Paul pulling a “stunt” to fire up “impressionable libertarian kids.” His underlying point is straightforward — why wait for an enemy combatant to pose an imminent threat to take him out, even if he’s in the U.S.? — but it’s difficult to engage that point because his tone is so jarringly discordant from the mood of the rest of the party today. Leave it to a guy who lost to Obama head to head to try to spoil a rare victory against The One by not even mustering polite disagreement with the man responsible for it.

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I think John McCain and Lindsay Graham have stereotyped Rand Paul in his father’s image, and are speaking from that point of view.

They don’t know him. But, I too, don’t trust that libertarian side not to stab the rest of conservatives in the back, on traditional values, social conservatism, and on pro life. (Ron Paul and Rand are pro life, but other libertarians are not.)

I don’t recall the honorable senator from Arizona EVER speaking like that about a Democrat senator. Where’s the senate decorum, Sir?
*
Thank you for your service. Your time has passed. You shame yourself. “Libertarian kids?” What a punk McCain has become, and Grahamnesty, too. Pathetic.

The establishment doesn’t want Paul to catch fire and upset the applecart in 2016 is my best guess. No way would Graham and McCain have the stones to do this on their own without the leadership quietly backing them. Too bad (for them) that they’re doing it in such a ham-handed, incompetent way

Classic example of RINOs reaching across the aisle to hug democrats while unleashing the venom on their own base. I wish these guys would just switch parties. Really, I wouldn’t even mind losing the seats at this point to just get them out.

Doomberg on March 7, 2013 at 2:14 PM

Do you think it is a symptom of them being just so insulated that they don’t know how the country and in particular Repulicans are feeling right now? There is so much solidarity with Paul. Or do you think that they just don’t care and they feel untouchable and this will all blow over?

“If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids.”

The angry old bastard is aghast that an upstart first-termer would violate the rules of the Senate. Paul didn’t but who the hell cares? Conservatives are cheering, the rat-eared wonder’s supporters are watching Honey Boo Boo, so this really only matters to other Senators more concerned with getting along with one another.

If Mr. McCain wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do more than stand on the Senate floor and whine about the lack of civility even as he attacks a fellow Republican and member of the Senate. If McCain has a dissenting view, let him stand up and debate Mr. Paul instead of this cheap tactic that only endears him to his fellow travelers.

But come 2016, he’s gonna be pushing 80, Palin’s support(assuming he still has it) won’t mean d-ck, and he may not be as lucky to get such weak primary opposition. He’s not as vulnerable as Grahamnesty, but he’s getting there.

Doughboy on March 7, 2013 at 2:16 PM

Lots of people think that McCain is going to retire in 2016. And JD Hayworth is an awful opponent… Free gov’t money!!

And yes this is ridiculously tone death. Congrats McCain for not understanding that that was a political victory yesterday.

Ok, Arizona, make a deal with you. We will remove Grahamasty from the Senate if you will get McCain out.

scgas on March 7, 2013 at 2:08 PM

I think its time to start reminding the folks in AZ that JC reflects poorly on their judgement.

John McVain is still about his 15 minutes more. Time for him to fade into the sunset and STFU!

belad on March 7, 2013 at 2:24 PM

Haha, lots of us out here in AZ hear you loud and clear. It’s just the low info voters who see his name and check the box, not knowing what in the world he’s been up to lately.

I used to like McCain, voted for him in my first presidential election primary…but man oh man has he become insufferable since that loss. Somewhere in 2000-2001 he lost whatever spine he had. Sad thing is he still thinks he represents conservatives!

Man it must be a cold splash of water to anybody who first watched C-SPAN yesterday, receiving a brilliant showcase of some of our young dynamic leaders, then turn on today to see if the filibuster is still going just to see the Miserable Old Geezers Spectacular.

Could it be any more clear who is ready to lead this party and who will make sure we’re seen as equally corrupt statists as the Dems, only more boring?

The filibuster also worked because Paul had credibility. Were it led by an older Republican Senator who had been around during the Bush administration, it would have smacked of political opportunism. Though this will boost Paul’s national political profile, nobody would deny that he’s been consistent. Also, for all the post-election discussions about the demise of the Republican Party, the filibuster also showed how it could have a bright future. Watching stars like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio help out Paul showed that the GOP’s got talent.

McCain has a serious martyr complex. He is incredibly adept at enduring torture. So adept, in fact, that he’s constantly angling to get “tortured” by someone. That’s why he’s so mavericky all the time. This is another illustration of how he is personally victimized, this time by Rand Paul who marginalized and discredited McCain’s heroic dinner with Obama.

Can’t McCain and Graham just retire already…?
What possible defense can be put forward for killing Americans who are not an imminent threat without due process…especially when on American soil? If you know where they are (in America) send the cops in, arrest them, put them on trial and if they are found guilty… punish them!
Will we see drone strikes on cabins where the police “believe” someone is hiding? How about on complexes run by cults where women and children may also be living?
The possibilities that Mr. Holder outline by saying the President has the authority but probably won’t… are TERRIFYING.
Even if I believe that President Obama likely wouldn’t use those powers… just like I believed President Bush would not use the powers granted him by the Patriot Act to their full extent…
It’s still wrong.

Do you think it is a symptom of them being just so insulated that they don’t know how the country and in particular Repulicans are feeling right now? There is so much solidarity with Paul. Or do you think that they just don’t care and they feel untouchable and this will all blow over?

melle1228 on March 7, 2013 at 2:31 PM

I think it’s an issue of them feeling untouchable. And there’s some evidence for it, these guys survived a major challenge from the Tea Party in 2010 and feel that their liberal worldviews have been vindicated by events since then.

The problem for them is that Rand Paul seems like he may have what it takes to lead a serious reform movement. Part of the reason Tea Party I fell apart is because we did not have a uniting figure. The closest we had was Palin and for a number of reasons I don’t want to rehash here, she was not able to serve as such a figure successfully. Paul is not really a relative newcomer like Palin was, and is going to be harder for them to trip him up. He may morph into a disappointment or implode on us later, but right now he looks very promising.

Looks like McCain and Graham have become the White House spokesmen to he Republican Party. There are no fools like old fools. Wonder why Dingy Harry has turned the Senate into a gridlocked do nothing body of idiots, look no farther then these two fools and the rest of the RINOS.

Call and leave a message that he is an idiot and an embarrassment, and that he does not represent the interests of the people. Scare the pants out of the old coot that he is on his way out of the job in the next election. This is not with the intention to make him change (what for? He’s incapable anyway) but to convey we’ve had enough with this old people clinging to their confi DC jobs instead of doing the job they were sent for.

It’s time we start using these phone numbers for something other than congratulating those who do something right (like Paul, Cruz, and Lee yesterday).

Perhaps they really don’t want answers. They just want credit for asking the questions. Over and over again.

Curtiss on March 7, 2013 at 2:39 PM

Precisely. Rand Paul, with his fierce stamina and unshakeable conviction schooled the old boys, who are now very openly and very bitterly embarrassing themselves and the party by bee-lining to the senate floor like jealous school girls to make it a point to let the new, pretty girl know she can’t be more popular than them.

You got schooled ya wankers. How embarrassing to the party that claims to uphold the Constitution. There is something much bigger going on here, and the two-party debacle in WA can’t even begin to get a grasp on it. Kudos to the writers on both sides who are stepping back, putting their partisanship aside, and appreciating the Rand Paul moment of political genius in throwing down the gauntlet to power.

3:14 in on a 12:58 vid and McCain hasn’t gotten half way through the WSJ editorial. I can’t watch anymore. McCain doesn’t even prepare his own rebuttal to Paul’s argument but argues his position from the authority of a better man at a credible media outlet!

I not going to watch all the way to the colloquy with his MiniMe.

This would be a riot if these two weren’t such cowards, getting their opinions of the record by waiting to have their say in an otherwise empty chamber before regular order the day after the debate on the subject was held.

McCain and Graham had 13 hours to express their views to Rand in an open forum where Rand was capable of defending himself against their attacks. This is precisely why you did not see them questioning him yesterday, they fear being exposed as the frauds that they are. Cowards.

Im sure Obama gave McCain his best…”Ill totally love you in the morning…..of course i respect you” performance at bed time, um, i mean, dinner last night so McCain would go out and do what he did.

Its pathetic and naive, and everything that is wrong with the GOP in a nutshell.

McCain is probably running around town bragging about his new boyfriend, meanwhile Obama and his choom gang are laughing all the way to their 2008 election memorabilia collection.

As for Graham, thats where we draw the line in the sand in 2014. He must go, and i dont care how many knots Karl Rove ties his panties into….Without the Tea Party movement, there is no filibuster last night.

If the GOP survives, it will be because of the candidates we have forced down its throat. Make no mistake, for every Sharon Angle their are a Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul.

McCain and Graham are two of the reasons why I’ve given up on (most of) the GOP. I also wish they’d switch parties. If they do, then maybe we’d have a clearer picture of who’s on our side in DC and who is not.

Kudos to Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and the rest who supported yesterday’s filibuster. More of that, please. :-)

His underlying point is straightforward — why wait for an enemy combatant to pose an imminent threat to take him out, even if he’s in the U.S.? — but it’s difficult to engage that point because his tone is so jarringly discordant from the mood of the rest of the party today.

So the two wiseguys that wined and dined in the White House last night instead of supporting their fellow Senator is now trashing him for taking a stand for American freedoms. It’s nearly mind-boggling how much I hate them right now.

Both McCain and Graham have nothing better to say than to come
out criticizing Rand Paul for the filibuster. This, after Ted
Cruz reads many tweets from supporting citizens, dems and repubs
alike.

You are right, HE is dumber than his daughter! Like a box of rocks.

BTW, I like Palin and fully understand why she backed McCain in the
last election (altho she only campaigned for him once I think),
I will puke if I hear her say one more time what a hero he is.
He is a tool.

I’m going to temper my characterization of McCain’s cowardice at not joining the debate yesterday because it’s obvious WSJ hadn’t prepared McCain’s arguments in time and he and his partner hadn’t rehearsed their dance to it yet. It doesn’t excuse his cowardice, or Graham’s, but it does explain why we didn’t see them stutter and mumble though their opinions yesterday.

Mr. Ailes (or staff): hope you are reading here and following the twittersphere.

We are DONE listening to these two ( and their cohorts). Keep booking them and you will lose us, your paying customers. Oh and more Andrea Tantaros!! M’kay? Thanks

can_con on March 7, 2013 at 3:34 PM

Totally agree. I was just sitting here thinking that I will NEVER watch these two men on a news program again. NEVER. If their traitorous fat faces show up on my screen, I’ll be changing the channel. And I won’t be going back. I really hope Ailes is paying attention. It would be SPECTACULAR if he sent — and then leaked — a memo saying those two dirty rotten scoundrels are not welcome on any Fox News programs.

Senator McCain, ah Senator McCain, listen, my friend, listen to me, ah, my friend, you have absolutely no room whatsoever to talk about being taken seriously. You, ah, Senator McCain, ah, my friend, are a fool and a buffoon and you made the entire Republican Party look foolish for ever believing you were a serious candidate, ah, my friend…